Jim Bates is a highly motivated and experienced executive, consultant and instructor who continuously delights customers by delivering high value solutions to everyday business challenges. He currently serves as the director of Enterprise Technology Services for the State of Alaska and represents our State as its’ chief information officer. Bates’ diverse career spans 34 years and includes business administration and management,

information technology and business process consulting with many successful F500 engagements including:

• Primary architect and process engineer for the Dell Project Management Framework that identified and standardized the project management lifecycle for all regions and service towers globally.

• Led a comprehensive IT Service Management maturity assessment and remediation plan for LabCorp, Inc. in Burlington NC.
• Road-mapped an ISO27001 certification path for Rackspace in San Antonio, TX

Bates has been connecting with diverse audiences globally for over 20 years as a technical trainer, senior instructor, motivational speaker, collegiate educator and as mentor and coach. Bates holds a Master certificate in Lean Six Sigma from Villanova University and is a CSSBB.

Al Bolea is the founder and architect of the Applied Leadership Seminar and an executive leadership coach and trainer primarily for the Oil & Gas Industry.  He is the former CEO/GM of a large independent oil company in the UAE and a retired executive from a major international oil and gas company. His industry career spans almost forty years, including assignments in the US, UK and Middle East. One-third of his career was in the coal mining industry with a balance in the upstream oil & gas sectors. He has worked at nearly every level within the industry: chairman, president, CEO, business unit leader, strategist, operator, financial analyst, planner, and hourly worker. He holds degrees from the University of Pittsburgh and Robert Morris University, as well as program certificates from INSEAD, Paris, and Cambridge University, UK.

He has been a leadership expert for the U.S. Department of Energy and an in-resident CEO and lecturer at the University of Houston, Bauer School of Business. He is the co-author of Applied Leadership Development: Nine Elements of Leadership Mastery.  Currently, Al is the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Leadership at the University of Alaska, College of Business and Public Policy, and a member of the college’s Advisory Board.  He is also a former board member of the Alaska Gas Development Corporation.

Leslie Williams Crocker, Owner of Business Integration Solutions, is a Financial and Management Consultant whose focus is on financial compliance with Federal procurement rules and regulations.  Ms. Williams is also Deltek Partner who has assisted several Alaska clients with implementation of Deltek’s Costpoint Accounting Software Solution. 

Ms. Williams is a CPA, has a Master’s Degree in Contract Management and is a Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional.  She is the former CFO of Chenega Corporation, has acted as interim CFO for Bering Straits Native Corporation, MTNT, Ltd and Gana-A’Yoo, Ltd, and is a former Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) senior auditor out of the Alaska suboffice.

 

Nova Cunningham holds a Bachelor of Music degree (with an emphasis in Music Education and Vocal Performance) from Ohio Northern University, and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre (with an emphasis in Musical Theatre) from San Diego State University. She has made a career performing live theatre. Her favorite roles include “Maria” in Lend Me a Tenor, “Betty Rizzo” in Grease, “Aldonza” in Man of La Mancha, “Narrator” in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and “Hippolyta" in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Her role as “Bunny Byron” in Babes in Arms landed her a recording contract with Hugh Martin and Mickey Rooney.

She has served as Producing Artistic Director for several regional theatres. Nova has been a seasonal resident of Alaska. She manages Alaska Cabin Nite Dinner Theatre in Denali National Park for Aramark. She is currently a Term Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at UAA. 

 

Terry Fields is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Weidner Property Management and Real Estate Program at UAA. Terry is also a real estate broker of Fields Real Estate, LLC and an Alaska Real Estate Commission approved instructor offering education and training through Fields Real Estate Education. 

 

Terry specializes in real estate management, teaching courses on investment finance, property management, leasing, Fair Housing, and Landlord/Tenant Law. Terry has been published in local and national publications, including Alaska Business Monthly, Alaska Journal of Commerce, Journal of Property Management, and Housing and Society.     

 

Dr. Jeffries holds a BA in Marketing, an MBA, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration with a major in Organizational Behavior.  Prior to entering academia he worked for 15 years in private industry gaining experience in sales, sales management, product management, and program management positions.

As a product and program manager his responsibilities included developing strategic business plans for his area of responsibility, participating in strategic planning at the corporate level, creating specifications and business plans for new products, selling new product initiatives to the board of directors to secure funding for development, and accountability for the profitability of his product lines.  Additionally he was responsible for negotiating development of project schedules and staffing requirements in a matrix organization, negotiating resolutions to schedule and resource conflicts, and managing major product development projects (up to 60 person teams from several departments).  Extensive travel was required in these positions as well, visiting major customer sites to negotiate product upgrades, field retrofits of installed products, and to resolve issues related to product performance, delivery, installation, service, and support.

He is currently a Professor of Management at UAA and teaches courses at the senior and graduate level in negotiation, organizational behavior, and organization development.  He is very active in research and has recently published or presented papers on: emotional intelligence, the influence of trust on contracting between firms, the effect of trust on cooperation, the effect of trust on negotiation, the effect of generational differences on motivation, and participative goal setting and negotiation.  He also conducts seminars on negotiation, organizational behavior/development, and motivation, and consults for local businesses in the areas of supervisory and management skill development.

Dr. Christina L. McDowell received her Ph.D. from Duquesne University. She is assistant professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage in the College of Business and Public Policy, where she teaches courses in marketing and business communication.

Before entering academia Christy worked in account services as an account manager for an integrated marketing communication firm. As an account manager, she was responsible for client relations, market research and database development, account management, event planning, copy editing, marketing surveys, and basic collateral development.

With her co-author, Jeanne M. Persuit, she has published an edited book, Integrated Marketing Communication: Creating Spaces for Engagement, in which she contributed a chapter on IMC campaigns and civic engagement. She has presented papers at national, regional, and state conferences and is published in Communication Research Trends, the Journal of Learning Community Research and Practice, and the Journal of the Association of Communication Administration.

 

Dr. Mouracade has wide ranging research interests both inside his area of specialization in Ancient Greek Philosophy and across the discipline.  Dr. Mouracade has published on Plato’s moral psychology, Plato’s political theory, Aristotle’s metaphysics, Aristotle’s biology, Socrates’s moral psychology, and Stoic philosophy.  Additionally, Dr. Mouracade published a logic textbook, Logic and Problems.

When not philosophizing and working with honors college students, Dr. Mouracade enjoys the wonderful recreation opportunities Alaska provides for him and his family.

 

Dr. Terry Nelson earned her BBA and MBA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and completed her PhD at the University of Memphis. Dr. Nelson’s scholarly background is enhanced with over 17 years in leadership roles with Kroger, Coca-Cola Enterprises, and First Tennessee Bank where she was Senior Vice President of Consumer Loan Processing.

Dr. Nelson joined the University of Alaska Anchorage College of Business and Public Policy faculty staff fall 2013 as an Assistant Professor of Leadership.  She conducts research in cross-cultural issues, leadership, diversity, and work stress and coping.  She has published in Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, IEEE Engineering Management Review, and Journal of Business & Entrepreneurship.  She recently co-authored a book entitled Work Stress and Coping in the Era of Globalization. In addition, she has presented her research at top-tiered conferences such as the Academy of Management, Southern Management Association, Organizational Behavior Teaching Society and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

Dr. Nelson currently teaches leadership and organizational behavior courses and is the Faculty Program Director for the Leadership Fellows and CBPP & Clark Middle School Leadership Fellows Junior Programs.  She was nominated for the College of Business and Public Policy Teacher of the Year award in 2014 and received Outstanding MBA Professor of the year in 2015 and 2016.  She recently received the 2016 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in the Community Engagement and Service category for her work with the CBPP & Clark Middle School Leadership Fellows Junior Program. 

Mr. Ray currently serves as a Health Policy Fellow within the Institute for Circumpolar Health Studies and provides a relational and strategic bridge between ICHS, State Government Entities, and other Non-Government Organizations. Prior to his employment with ICHS, Mr. Ray spent over ten years serving in both the Executive and Legislative Branches of the Alaska State Government.  His service with the State of Alaska includes facilitating the executive level strategic plan to retain and enhance Alaska’s multi-billion dollar military industry and successfully advocating for nearly $225 million in project funding.  Mr. Ray continues to serve the University and the State of Alaska in a number of strategic capacities.  In addition, Mr. Ray is the Founder of the highly successful outpatient addiction treatment center, Set Free Alaska.  As an innovative leader with over 18 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, Mr. Ray continues to foster positive social change through high impact nonprofits.   

Mr. Ray received a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Southern California and a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Villanova University.  He has been recognized by the Alaska Journal of Commerce as a 2011 “Top Forty under 40” award recipient and was named by Governor Sean Parnell as one of “The Great Alaskans of 2012” for his work within the public and nonprofit sectors in Alaska.

Bobbie Sue Wolk, MS, PCC, BCC is passionate about coaching, teaching and partnering with others so they can thrive!  She is the the first International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certified Coach in Alaska and is also a Board Certified Coach and holds certifications in Wellness Coaching and Mentor Coaching. She received her MS in Industrial-Organizational psychology after graduating from UAA with a BBA in Accounting.

Bobbie’s post graduate work was at the College of Executive Coaching and she also completed their rigorous Master’s Coach Program.  With over 25 years of accounting, tax and coaching experience, four business start-ups (two operational and successful, two no longer operational but taught her plenty), she has an international client base and holds workshops and coaches throughout Alaska and the lower 48. Bobbie takes a holistic approach to her work with leaders and individuals to maximize their potential: personally, professionally, and spiritually to provide the optimal balance in life.